Saturday, August 13, 2011

Easel

Lots of adjustable bits to accommodate the heights and preferences of everyone from Kate to Mum (yes, I get to use it, too).

When it was done, we posed it with some framed art on it (which I'd oil-pastelled years ago for the girls' room to match their rug) to take some photos.

We also actually used it, of course.

And at the end of the day, we folded it up flat and put it away.

We love that Grandpa and Grandma got to make so many useful things for us on this trip. We also suspect that Grandpa, especially, enjoyed making those multiple trips to the Home Depot because he'd missed all the woodworking he'd done when he was younger. Dad and Mum like recounting how, as parents of young kids and moving into their first home with us, they'd taken the bus to the lumberyard and then walked home bearing planks on their shoulders between them (we didn't have a car). With those, they'd built our beds and our kitchen cabinets. Now that Singapore has annoyingly gone on to develop herself into a veritable urban jungle, all the old neighborhood lumberyards are gone and nobody does home carpentry any longer. I feel like I've been given a huge privilege to have places like Lowe's and the Home Depot just around the corner. And it was eye-opening watching Dad and Mum build these things for the kids with minimal power tools, just like they did in the old days when we couldn't afford them. I wish I could ship back to Singapore some of the space and resources we have here in the US so people could work with their hands again.

And maybe I should attempt to work with wood someday, when I get tired of sewing or cardboarding. Not just to repurpose an entertainment center into a play kitchen, I mean. But to build things from scratch, the same way I sew, just for the sheer fun of it. I mean, we can never have too many new media to play with, right?

From Donna: As a grandparent,I know how much joy it brings to make my grandchildren gifts, especially when they are appreciative. Your little girls are very fortunate to have such loving grandparents and mom. I love the painting

Hello and Welcome!

I am a gratefully unemployed mom of three girls, all of whom are growing up much too soon! I like piles of warm, fresh laundry, the smell of salt air near the beach where I used to live, making lists, anything round (like heads) and the quiet evenings sitting with the man of the house after the kids are in bed.

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You are welcome to link to this blog and to any post on this blog and use ONE or TWO photos for that purpose. Do not use photos of my children. You are welcome to pin images from my blog, if those photos do not have my children's faces in them. Please contact me if you want to use the text on, or more photos from, this blog. Do not post my tutorials on your sites. Do not translate tutorials from this blog into other languages on your site. The ideas and instructions in the tutorials are free - but please use them to only make stuff for yourself or for gifts and not to sell. Ta! For more information, this and this might be helpful.